Chicago, Illinois- In this uncertain time of global conflict, some professors believe it is time to teach students to reevaluate and deconstruct America’s real enemies—conservatives, science, democracy, and capitalism. “And so what we’re seeing in globalization is just an extension of our universality. And I would argue the three main modern forms of universality are science, democracy, and capitalism. So that’s one [type] of rhetoric that I think we have to unpack for our students,” said English Professor Robert Samuels at the annual Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention. In other words, he believes that first-year students should be taught to mistrust “universalist” generalizations about the benefits of capital or democracy. “One thing I think we have to work with our students to critically engage them in deconstructing that rhetoric. Really, what’s going on here—this is all based on rhetoric,” he said.
Samuels warned other professors not to directly address political issues in class not because such discussions are inappropriate to the English curriculum or a waste of tuition dollars, but because the current college structure limits academic freedom, utilizing a culture of fear to scare untenured professors into “self-censorship” of their curriculum. “So what I argue as a way of teaching about politics without really running into any problems is, when I teach about politics, I never mention politics or politicians or political parties. I talk about rhetorical structures like globalization, universalization,” said Samuels. In other words, he glibly teaches students about “alternative ways” of viewing the world which will eventually inform their political decisions.
Despite his openly partisan agenda, Professor Samuels maintains that a politicized curriculum—even in non-germane topics such as English or Rhetoric and Composition—never really indoctrinates students. “So I fundamentally believe that indoctrination does not work” because oppositional students will either openly or secretly reject the teacher’s ideology regardless of what is said in class, Samuels said. He prefers to offer a curriculum which allows students to “see my position within a political ideology that can easily be rejected or accepted, or mimicked back to me.”
Samuels’ ideological position is that conservatives are undermining the integrity of the nation and have embarked on this agenda over the last 30 years, leading to the current “radical privatization of the public sphere, defunding of the public sphere including education.” The Faculty President at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Professor Samuels blames the current globalization mania on conservatives who utilize the rhetoric of globalization to “demonize” higher education and “defund” the welfare state. “You listen to right-wing radio, which I do a lot, is that… [talk radio argues] conservatives are the victims. They’re the victims of a liberal education, the victims of a liberal press, and the victims of liberal politicians. According to the conservative discourse—once again the victims are innocent, they can’t be attacked, they have moral authority…”
In reality, federal expenditures are on an upward spiral. The Department of Education budget has increased from $14 billion in 1980 to $67.4 billion in 2007, a 481% increase over three decades. Post-secondary expenditures, which include Pell Grants, Work Study, loans, scholarships, and the DC-based Howard University, have increased 439% over 27 years, from $5.65 billion in 1980 to $24.8 billion in 2007.
Bethany Stotts is a Staff Writer at Accuracy in Academia.
